The History of Panem
by tenneyshoes
Summary: What I have been able to peice together from the hints and tidbits in the books of how the country of Panem, the shining Capitol, the Districts, and the hated Hunger Games came to be.


History of Panem

In the year 2176, under the command of Kim Jong Il X, the Reunited Koreas began a careful attack on the United States of America. Using biochemical weapons designed to deform and cripple unborn children, Kim Jong Il X planned to stop a war for world power that the next generation could not retaliate against.

For years, the United States had been prepared for a nuclear war with the RK, and was able to save most of its people. However, the chemicals in the RK's weapons had unforeseen effects on the planet. The oceans began to rise over the land, completely submerging parts of the United States, as well as the entire peninsula the RK had stood on.

Fires, storms, droughts, and famines took the world, stretching for 80 years. Terrified, the survivors of the Children's War began others known as the Famine Wars. No alliances were formed: people simply fought for any food that could be found.

Out of the darkness and chaos stepped Kanto Merc, with an idea that would renew the world.

His plan was to reunite the people under one banner, as they had been before. His vision included a grand Capitol City to govern over the thirteen districts. Each district would have a product that would help benefit the rest of Panem, pulling the country out of the ashes of a destroyed world.

**The Districts**

**District 1: **Luxury items for the people of Panem

**District 2:** Stone mining

**District 3:** Electronics

**District 4:** Fishing

**District 5:** DNA research

**District 6:** Medicine

**District 7:** Lumber and Paper

**District 8:** Textile

**District 9:** Food Processing

**District 10:** Livestock

**District 11:** Agriculture

**District 12:** Coal Mining

**District 13: **Graphite Mining

Kanto Merc had a vision to make Panem even greater than the United States had been. In District 13, he placed another, covert industry – nuclear development. Merc intended for the mistakes of the past to never be repeated: he intended to head off any hint of another threat to his country before it had time to become legitimate.

For nearly a century, Kanto Merc's legacy shined. The people were safe, and his government had worked. Then, life began to deteriorate. Under the leadership of President John Clayton, the "less important" districts were neglected. Districts that the Capitol deemed useful, such as 1, 3, 5, and 6 were privileged, often receiving better food, and products in better conditions. The districts farther from the Capitol, and with less "useful" products, such as the coal from District 12 or the Graphite from 13, were essentially ignored. Kanto Merc's secret district was guarded slightly to well. The produce they received was often not in good condition, and the products became less frequent in arriving.

A man from District 13 by the name of Kit Fisto began to speak out against the Capitol. The District was already virtually ignored by the Capitol, and Fisto was allowed to speak to the people without interruption. He told the people of the neglect of the Capitol, reminding them that the country had been formed to protect them, so they would never again be hungry as they had been during the Famine Wars. "The Capitol has fallen in all but status. We will no longer allow even this," were his words.

Fisto's following grew almost instantaneously in 13. Over the course of two years, Fisto and his supporters traveled through the districts holding rallies to gain support. In the more neglected districts, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 the people reacted quickly and strongly. In the 'Pet' districts, such as 1, 3, 5, and 6 they were simply ignored. No one expected the weak backwater districts to be capable of forming a 's words were not even worth a respectable glare in these districts.

Three years after Fisto had begun his campaign against the Capitol, the revolts began. District 13's revolt was practically nonexistent. Everyone in the district was tired of the neglect shown by the Capitol. District 12's revolt was only slightly harder, almost everyone agreeing with the revolutionaries and the flag of the rebellion was raised over the Justice Building within six hours of the revolts beginning. District 11 was also fairly easy, having almost no one opposing the rebellion.

Districts 7, 8, 9, and 10 did not fair nearly so easily. District 10 was split almost equally in half from the beginning, and not everyone was excited to give up what little they had for something completely unknown. The supporters of the Capitol managed to suppress the revolts over the four months it took the Capitol to decide that perhaps livestock was indeed a slightly useful district and assist them. Those four months were the bloodiest of the entire revolution. District 10 failed.

Districts 7, 8, and 9 were entirely for the revolution, but they were small districts, and the Capitol was finally starting to have a hand in this civil war. Supporters of the Capitol from Districts 1, 3, 5, and 6 were sent to each district as word of revolution spread and ground the people into the dust. The rebels met more than just other people from the districts. The scientist from districts 5 and 6 had created weapons of their own, genetic mutations of already vicious animals, with new abilities that would practically kill a rebel instantly. These smaller districts never had a chance, and each revolution failed.

District 4 revolted at the same time as District 7. They had many advantages over anyone from the other districts that were sent to stop them. They were self-sustaining, able to catch their own food and filled with the weapons and machinery they used to catch fish that were just as effectively used on men. Many of the people simply retreated onto their boats and waited off the coast. Most people from other districts did not have the time to teach themselves to swim, and therefore the people of 4 were virtually untouchable on their great fishing boats. They would raid the invaders of their home on dark stormy nights, when they were forced to anchor closer to the coast than they really liked. District 4's people became known very quickly for their insight to opportunity. When something was forced on them, such as by the weather, they turned it to their advantage, raiding the Capitol pets mercilessly. After only two weeks the invaders sent to dispel the revolt left, leaving the people to continue planning the assault of the Capitol. District 4 was the most successful revolt of the entire war.

Not even a week after the success in District 4, Fisto mobilized against the Capitol itself. The people of the Capitol were not used to hardship or hunger. They were what Panem was always supposed to be, a happy and carefree people. They were not prepared for the people of the Districts to come marching through the streets.

President Clayton had called the people of his supporting districts, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 to the Capitol, knowing the rebels would march on the city. They were armed with the resources of the Capitol, far better than the people of the districts with their tridents and mining tools.

Fisto's hope was that he would not be forced to use the nuclear weapons developed in his district. He knew they would not be an asset to his followers. If anything they would simply send people spiraling back to the time of the Famine Wars. He hoped to never have to use that last resort, but as the battle in the Capitol raged for the worse, he began to pull troops out, retreating from the streets. They would return home, and Fisto would authorize the nukes to be sent.

The districts ran, returning home as ordered for Fisto to send the nukes. The retreat was bloody, the Capitol pets following on their heels relentlessly. More rebels were lost in that hour long retreat than in the whole three days of the invasion.

The people returned to their homes, hoping Fisto would send in his weapons before the Capitol could send soldiers to punish them. The Capitol was waiting for the rebels though. The day they returned to District 13, air strikes were called all over the district, destroying everything. The bombing lasted the whole day, and when it was over, the entire district was simply a big, charred crater.

President Clayton did not intend to leave the districts alone, even after the destruction of District 13. However, the attack the districts had been waiting for never came. Instead each television in every home turned on, of its own accord. President Clayton spoke of the mercy he would be showing the lowly rebels. Instead of obliterating them as he had 13, he would offer a treaty. The rebels had no intention of accepting, but three days later, soldiers in white uniforms stepped off the trains in droves. They said they were peacekeepers and that all would be explained when the President read the Treaty.

The Treaty of Treason was to be the new law of Panem. The rebellious districts would now be divided, so a rebellion would never have a chance of spreading. Along with the vicious peacekeepers, each district would now be quarantined to itself. Electric fences, guard towers, and various other high security was put into place. Never again would a person be able to gain supporters as Kit Fisto had. District mayors would be chosen by the Capitol, to ensure that they were being led properly.

The Capitol saw the need for only one other law. The law of the Games. In order to remind the rebels that the district should never again revolt, they would be required to send a boy and a girl within the ages of 12 to 18 to the Capitol. The teens would be trained for a week, and then they would be put into an arena, as a reenactment of the rebellion. The people of the districts would watch these games, and be reminded that they must never again attempt a rebellion.

Over the years, the mindset in some districts changed. Although the pet districts were also required to participate in the Games, they had advantages. They still received better products from the Capitol and the districts, and in Districts such as 3, where peacekeepers were trained, they were simply more equipped to handle what the Games were. District 4, however was seen as the traitor. They had been the brunt of the rebellion, having such a successful revolt, and leading the rebels into the invasion of the Capitol. After only ten years however, they had seven victors of the Games. Zach Tanz had been the first victor of the Games, and when District 4 began receiving extra food every month, the people decided the Capitol may not be as bad as they had thought. The tributes of District 4 devised the strategy to ally with other powerful tributes each year in the games, and almost every year, they brought home a victor. After only two decades with the Games, they had divided the districts more effectively than any had ever expected. The people of the rebel districts despised their one time leaders of District 4. Each year, they lost unity more and more between each district, all hoping the other's children would die, so theirs could live. Resentment grew among them, and the people began to forget that the Capitol was the cause of everything, instead choosing to blame the teens that were able to survive the Games. By the 21st Games, they had been nicknamed the Hunger Games, because it was blatantly obvious that the Districts that won more often were better fed, and the ones that rarely or had never won were struggling to get by. The food that was received by the winning district on Parcel Day was much envied in the other districts and was simply one more wedge to divide the Districts.

President Clayton's plan had been more effective with the purpose of the Hunger Games than he ever could have imagined. The people were reminded every year that the Capitol was who held all the power, and they successfully divided them better than the electric fences and the peacekeepers ever could have.

**I wrote his for a project for my Young Adult Lit class. I love history, and ever since I first read Hunger Games, I have been intrigued as to how the world deteriorated to this state, so I wrote the history. Like it? Hate it? Please comment and tell me. And there are no spoliers from Mockingjay, because this had to be given to my class and not everyone had read mockingjay. I might be doing another chapter though, we'll see. Please process and reply, and you'll get a cookie, as always.**

**Tenney_shoes**


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